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AUSTRALIA\u2019S rangelands extend to almost 75 percent of the continent, with grazing enterprises located across close to 58 percent of the rangeland environment.<\/p>\n
For many producers the challenges of operating a grazing system in an environment characterised by highly variable rainfall are further compounded by the inability to greatly influence the feedbase.<\/p>\n
Production is the result of decisions around environmental management and genetic selection. In areas such as the rangelands, where producers are more exposed and have less opportunity to manage the environment, particularly the feedbase, genetic selection becomes a crucial consideration.<\/p>\n
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Wayne Pitchford<\/p>\n
As part of the recent International Rangelands Congress held in Adelaide, Professor Wayne Pitchford<\/strong> of Adelaide University presented to delegates an overview of the importance of genetic selection and applications from research into the maternal productivity projects conducted as part of the Beef CRC.<\/p>\n The key driver of profitability in extensive operations is weaning rate. Unlike conception rates or calving rates, which are stand-alone measures, weaning rate captures both fertility and calf survival.<\/p>\n As a measure for producers, this can become a powerful measurement for maternal performance across mobs and across the overall herd. While this is often a well-recognised concept among producers, moving from a conceptual recognition to practice can remain challenging.<\/p>\n Research from the Beef CRC Maternal Productivity Project clearly demonstrated the importance of weaning rate.<\/p>\n Across large datasets, weaning rate was shown to explain\u00a037pc of the variation in maternal productivity, compared with only\u00a09pc attributed to calf weight. While heavy weaners may be more appealing in the short-term, it is the total number of calves weaned that has the most meaningful impact on enterprise profitability, particularly in feed-limited rangeland systems.<\/p>\n This highlights the need for selection decisions that favour consistent fertility and calf survival over singular focus on growth traits.<\/p>\n Impact of weight and growth<\/p>\n It is worth considering the contributors to successfully increasing weaning rate. A key factor is the impact of both weight and growth rate, particularly for heifers.<\/p>\n The impact of weight and growth of successful conception among heifers is known. Professor Pitchford presented data collected from more than 14,000 commercial heifers, demonstrating that\u00a0rapid weight gain (>1 kg\/day) during joining significantly increases conception rates, even among\u00a0lighter heifers below 300kg.<\/p>\n In rangeland environments where rainfall events can trigger short-term feed flushes, these events can be used to support joining strategies in response to feed conditions following rain and maximise opportunities to join lighter heifers.<\/p>\n Conversely, where nutritional growth is limited, due to delayed pasture response or overgrazing, heifers must enter joining at a\u00a0minimum threshold of around 350kg\u00a0to achieve acceptable conception rates. Without this weight gain and under this benchmark, the risk of missed conceptions increases, delaying entry into the breeding herd and reducing long-term productivity.<\/p>\n Body Condition Score<\/p>\n While weight and growth rate are the major factors underpinning heifers, Body Condition Score (BCS) is the foremost indicator for mature cows.\u00a0 Research has continually shown that cows that fail to maintain adequate condition through lactation or into the mating period are significantly more likely to experience\u00a0extended post-partum anoestrus.<\/p>\n In rangeland systems, where supplementation is minimal and feed quantity and quality vary widely, cows with\u00a0better inherent ability to build and maintain condition\u00a0are more likely to remain fertile across variable seasons.<\/p>\n This makes condition not only a management outcome but a genetic trait worthy of selection. This can challenge producers who may often focus on selection of traits for growth or carcase outcomes.<\/p>\n Mature Cow Body Condition EBV<\/p>\n In a rangelands environment where seasonal feed flushes are unpredictable, cows that can gain and hold condition in response to these opportunities are potentially more productive.<\/p>\n From a selection process, the Mature Cow Body Condition EBV has significant value for producers. This EBV predicts a female\u2019s genetic potential to maintain condition throughout her life.<\/p>\n For rangeland producers, this is more useful than relying on carcase fat EBVs measured in younger animals.<\/p>\n Wayne Pitchford highlighted that around\u00a075pc of the genetic variation in mature cow condition is independent of carcase fat and muscle traits. This means that selecting for fatness or muscle based on yearling or finishing-stage carcase data will not reliably identify cows that can sustain condition through multiple seasons and reproductive cycles.<\/p>\n For producers in extensive systems, the\u00a0Mature Cow Body Condition EBV is a more targeted and effective tool\u00a0for building herds that can maintain fertility under fluctuating environmental conditions.<\/p>\n Focussing on feed utilisation and BCS does also impact considerations on traits such as\u00a0Net Feed Intake (NFI).<\/p>\n While there is much interest in selecting cattle that are genetically lower for NFI (meaning less feed eaten for the same weight gain), particularly in environments where feed is not as restricted, in rangeland systems, this trait can potentially work against a producer.<\/p>\n Cows that are \u2018too efficient\u2019 may eat less when feed is available and struggle to store enough condition to get through dry periods. Research suggests that in extensive conditions,\u00a0a bigger appetite is an advantage, because those animals can build condition when seasonal opportunities occur.<\/p>\n In addition to these traits, rangeland producers still need to focus on traits that influence production.<\/p>\n Prof Pitchford\u2019s presentation highlighted Days to Calving (DTC)\u00a0as the most useful EBV for evaluating female fertility. In effect, this EBV offers producers the opportunity to select for two key issues \u2013 firstly, the time to conception\u00a0post-joining and secondly, improving the interval between calving and re-joining\u00a0in cows.<\/p>\n While a small proportion of variation in DTC is attributed to gestation length, most of the variation reflects\u00a0post-partum recovery and the conception interval.\u00a0 This makes the EBV a valuable tool in genetically selecting to improve reproductive efficiency in commercial conditions.<\/p>\n Prof Pitchford\u2019s analysis demonstrated that for every\u00a0one-day reduction in Days to Calving, producers can expect up to a\u00a04pc increase in calves weaned over two joining periods.<\/p>\n Although rangeland production systems are environmentally challenging,\u00a0genetic selection offers producers a practical and cost-effective strategy\u00a0to improve herd performance.<\/p>\n By focusing on traits such as\u00a0Days to Calving, Mature Cow Body Condition, and overall weaning rate, and applying this alongside sound physical selection, producers can make measurable gains in maternal productivity.<\/p>\n When used well, accurate EBVs provide a framework for building herds that are more fertile, resilient, and better adapted to the seasonal variability of extensive systems.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Al Rayner<\/p>\n Alastair Rayner\u00a0is Principal of RaynerAg and an Extension & Engagement Consultant with the Agricultural Business Research Institute (ABRI). He has over 28 years\u2019 experience advising beef producers and graziers across Australia. Alastair can be contacted here or through his website:\u00a0www.raynerag.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTRALIA\u2019S rangelands extend to almost 75 percent of the continent, with grazing enterprises located across close to 58…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3846],"tags":[267,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-191611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-genetics","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114698611126622706","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/unnamed-66-1.jpg\")
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